Into the latter pour a swish of olive oil and some sliced garlic, lots of sliced garlic. Toss the pasta into the pot (unless it’s dried pasta, in which case give it a few minutes headstart). After 10 or 15 seconds of sauteeing the garlic, add the cherry tomatoes. Let ’em get a little wilted, then shake ’em around and wilt/brown a little more. Add pepper and salt.

Drain the pasta, then add it to the sautee pan with some basil chiffonade. Stir the mess around, add a little more salt, then turn out into a serving plate. This looks particularly good when you’ve got a couple of different color tomatoes.